The fabric of life: Blackridge resident believed in the power of quilts

Jan Domzal would carefully place and sew each block in its proper place.

Each piece was more than a swatch of fabric to her.

“Jan wanted every inch of the quilt to be perfect,” said her friend, Karen Womack of the Blackridge section of Penn Hills. “Each quilt was crafted to help a person through an emotionally challenging time in their lives.”

Domzal, also of Blackridge, made quilts for everyone, including the Neighborhood Ford Store’s Quilt for the Cure. It is a breast cancer awareness program linked to Ford Motor Co.’s Warriors in Pink philanthropy.

The quilts often contain sentiments of support, encouragement and remembrance. They are assembled by volunteers and donated to regional breast cancer treatment facilities.

Courtesy of Neighborhood Ford Store

Annetta Brewer (from left), a mammography technician, and drivers Gerald (Jerry) Turner and Rick Maczko display a quilt created by Jan Domzal that was donated to Bonnie’s Bus, a mobile mammography unit that provides breast cancer screening throughout West Virginia, especially in rural parts of the state with limited or no access to such screenings.

Domzal was so passionate about the craft that even when she was in the hospital, she was thinking about the power of quilts.

“I remember Jan telling me, ‘As soon as I get out of here, I am going to finish a quilt I’ve been working on,’ ” Womack said. “Jan loved quilting, and she wanted to keep the tradition going that was handed down to her by her mother and aunt.”

Domzal was able to finish that quilt she mentioned to Womack. It was one of the last ones she completed. It was important to her to give quilts to family members and friends, some she gifted before she passed away in April 2023 after several hospitalizations following a fall.

Courtesy of Neighborhood Ford Store

This quilt was made for Jan Domzal by her friends to support her through treatment for breast cancer.

As her brother, Dave Domzal, and his wife, Theresa, who live outside Nashville, were cleaning out her Blackridge home, they discovered hundreds of yards of fabric and dozens of quilts, including one in particular.

It was hanging in her closet. She had talked about this quilt, Theresa Domzal said.

Friends of Jan Domzal had made this quilt for her when she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Theresa Domzal said she and her husband gave some of the other quilts to friends and family members.

They still have a few quilts. The pink one they gave to Jan Domzal’s friend, Kathy Nelson.

“The quilt her friends made meant so much to Jan,” said Nelson of Blackridge, who knew Domzal from a quilting guild. “Her friends devoted time and love in making that quilt just like she had done so many times for others, and I know it comforted her.”

Nelson passed the quilt on to Nancy Lewis, public relations manager for the Neighborhood Ford Store, for safekeeping until a new home could be found.

Lewis said Mike DeArdo, Quilt for the Cure’s coordinator, connected Lewis to Lynne Keller, president of the Fort Henry Piecemakers Quilt Guild in Wheeling. W.Va. Lewis passed the quilt to Keller, who found it a home at Liza’s Place, a hospice care center in Wheeling.

“This quilt will bring comfort to someone,” Keller said. “It is beautiful and will help someone else during an emotional time in their lives.”

Highlighting the story of Domzal’s quilts as National Quilting Day approaches March 16 is a perfect time to talk about the impact she had on others and a way to remember and honor her, Lewis said.

To Domzal, quilts were more than just squares of fabric. They symbolized so much more to the person who received one.

Domzal, who had been quilting for years, always found the time to quilt even while working full time and going to school. She began her nursing career at a veterans hospital in Michigan. She came to Pittsburgh and worked at the VA in Oakland in an administrative position while earning her law degree from Duquesne University. She got a job with the Allegheny County family services department. She belonged to St. Scholastica Church in Aspinwall.

Theresa Domzal said she admired her sister-in-law’s willingness to try new things, from a job to gardening to quilting, and she always gave 100% in everything she did.

“Jan enjoyed everything about quilting,” Womack said. “It was important work to her. She was a phenomenal person, and she quilted with passion. She had an idea in her mind and she carried it through. Quilts are like material hugs. The people who receive them feel surrounded by support. “

Added Lewis: “Jan was really one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met. When you look at the quilt that was made for Jan during her treatment for breast cancer, hope, comfort and love are truly the messages.”

Domzal had such a strong ability to choose colors and patterns and to make a harmonious quilt that was interesting to look at, Theresa Domzal said.

“She is probably up there smiling knowing someone has that quilt,” Womack said. “It brought her so much comfort and she knows it is bringing someone else comfort, too.”

If you are interested in volunteering to sew a quilt for the Neighborhood Ford Store’s Warrior Quilt Project, visit quiltforthecure.org.